The Marine Technology Hub
Apologies to ACR and Visions of Johanna! But here’s how I used duct tape and hose clamps, those old quickie install standbys—plus a new favorite, velcro tape—to marry the Nauticast B’s AIS tuned VHF antenna with its GPS antenna so I could secure both with a single rail mount. The antenna duo are not as compact or elegant as Y-tronic’s combo, but they seemed to work well. It’s also worth noting…
So somehow when I was actually plotting Spirit of Bermuda’s Class B AIS output in Hamilton Harbor my screen shots failed to save. But I still have the marks I made every time its plot updated and you can sort of see the jumping bean effect that results from Class B’s 30 second update rate…
What luck that I got to monitor another active Class B transponder while testing one myself. As you can see above, and bigger in my first Nauticast B post, ACR’s included “Link2AIS Class-B” software identified the training ship Spirit of Bermuda’s AIS as a B model. Coastal Explorer did not make this distinction but it did decipher Spirit’s name and other “static” information. As mentioned in my one offshore post, none of the five ships I spoke with were getting our name on their Class A AIS displays…
Check out the full size version of this Coastal Explorer (aka Maptech Chart Navigator Pro) screen. It shows how useful the Nauticast B AIS transponder was during the Bermuda-to-Maine passage, and suggests how it might have played a critical role…
6/28 I’m now ashore and able to upload this shot of Malcom Willard showing off a three-meal dolphin on a lake-like Atlantic ocean. It was taken on Tuesday, a few hundred miles south of the Gulf Stream. I didn’t manage to get the text below online until Wed. afternoon. Note that no electronics played a part in the fish’s demise:
Note to self: If I ever get to try this again—posting a Panbo entry from offshore with a sat phone—
As hoped for, waiting in Bermuda was an ACR Nauticast B Class B AIS and, happy day, I got it installed and working without a problem. In fact, I’m really impressed with the detailing—packaging, cabling,...
That’s Skip Strong making his way down Nor’easter’s twisty pilot ladder, as seen from the bow of the Penobscot Pilot. Man, that move must get the adrenaline pumping, say, on a dark night with a big sea running. (Capt. Ryan told me that they can manage a ladder like this in up to about eight footers, sometimes getting the ship to turn toward the ladder and using the flatter turbulence created inside the turn). At any rate, Strong, who is a bit of a geek (and I mean that in a good way) has quite the electronics in that bag he’s toting…
I’m way behind on the work, not to mention the gizmo preparation, that needs doing before Bermuda (Bill and Gram are about to finish 7th overall uncorrected, if not passed by a 42’ cat in the next hour), so I’m turning it over to Milt Baker. These snippets are from today’s noon report, filed from almost the midpoint of the Med Bound 2007 Bermuda-Azores leg:
Not only did I get up on Mt. Battie yesterday and take that new header picture of a more spring-like Camden Harbor (remember the old November one?), but I got down the Bay last Friday, catching a ride on the Penobscot Pilot. That’s Captain Jane Ryan and I above, and bigger here , just after she…
Two issues U.S. boaters might want to comment on: 1. Apparently the HF transmitters the USCG uses to send out offshore weather forecasts—voice, fax, etc.—need to be replaced and the government wants to know if it’s...
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